Starmer political strategist went to US to share ‘lessons learned’ with Democrats – but Labour did not fund trip
A political strategist who worked on Sir Keir Starmer’s campaign has explained how she went to the US to share “lessons learned” with the Democrats following Labour’s election victory.
This week, the Trump campaign accused Labour of illegal interference after the party’s head of operations, Sofia Patel, posted on LinkedIn she was coordinating nearly 100 current and former party officials to campaign in battleground states.
Deborah Mattinson, who also worked with Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Neil Kinnock, told Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast she was asked to go to the US in September to talk to Democrats about Labour’s campaign by centrist Democratic thinktank Progressive Policy Institute.
She had already finished working for the Labour Party when she went to the US.
Ms Mattinson was speaking on Tuesday, ahead of the Trump campaign filing a complaint to the US federal electoral commission claiming there had been “interference” in the “form of apparent illegal foreign national contributions made by the Labour Party of the UK”.
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It references reports suggesting Labour strategists have been offering advice to Kamala Harris “about how to earn back disaffected voters and run a winning campaign from the centre left”.
The complaint also mentions a Telegraph report suggesting Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir’s new chief of staff, and Matthew Doyle, his director of communications, “attended a convention in Chicago and met with Ms Harris’s campaign team”.
Deborah Mattinson has worked with Sir Keir Starmer, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Neil Kinnock. File pic: Richard Gardner/Shutterstock
Ms Mattinson, who no longer works for Labour, said following the party’s landslide victory somebody she knew from the Progressive Policy Institute “got in touch with me…and said they would really like me to go over and share lessons learned with some of their colleagues in the Democrats”.
“I said, ‘fine’,” she added.
She said the thinktank funded that, including focus groups and polling “to understand who their hero voters were”.
“And that was what I did, that was what I took over there and shared with other Democratic organisations, with pollsters, with strategists on their side,” she said.
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Ms Mattinson said nobody from her team saw anybody from the Harris campaign, “but we talked to people that are working with them”.
She and those with her went over in September, in the week of the first and only debate between Ms Harris and Mr Trump, “so they were all down in Pennsylvania doing the debate”.
The strategist added the Progressive Policy Institute “was set up to collaborate between like-minded parties around the world, and that’s what they do”.
She said she is worried about what the impact of a Trump victory could be. “I’m worried about what that means for centre left parties around the world.”
Sir Keir has insisted his relationship with Mr Trump has not been jeopardised following the accusations of interference by the former president’s campaign.
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The prime minister said on Tuesday he had “established a good relationship” with Mr Trump and said Labour Party volunteers “have gone over pretty much every election” but “in their spare time”.
The Labour Party has insisted it is not funding the travel or accommodation for activists.
Federal election rules stipulate foreign volunteers cannot spend more than $1,000 (Ā£770) helping candidates.
A Labour Party spokesman said: “It is common practice for campaigners of all political persuasions from around the world to volunteer in US elections.
“Where Labour activists take part, they do so at their own expense, in accordance with the laws and rules.”
It was perhaps not quite how officials, in London at least, had envisaged the announcement of the state visit would be made.
In the Oval Office, Donald Trump revealed the news in his own way.
“I was invited by the King and the great country. They are going to do a second fest – that’s what it is. It is beautiful,” he said during an impromptu Oval Office moment.
The question was, did this “fest” – which Mr Trump suggested could happen in September – amount to the much hyped second state visit for the American president?
Or was this actually just the smaller visit that had been offered two months ago as an initial bilateral visit at which the state visit would be discussed?
Back in February, Sir Keir Starmer presented the president with a letter from King Charles and the offer of a state visit.
The letter proposed an initial meeting between the King and the president to discuss details of the state visit at either Dumfries House or Balmoral, both in Scotland, close to Mr Trump’s golf clubs.
The King wrote: “Quite apart from this presenting an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, it would also offer a valuable chance to plan a historic second state visit to the United Kingdomā¦ As you will know this is unprecedented by a US president. That is why I would find it helpful for us to be able to discuss, together, a range of options for location and programme content.”
As he revealed the news of his “fest” with his “friend Charles”, Mr Trump said: “I think they are setting a date for Septemberā¦”
Sources have since confirmed to Sky News that it will amount to the full state visit.
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Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump the invite earlier this year. Pic: Reuters
‘Even more important’
It’s possible the initial less formal presidential trip may still happen between now and September. Mr Trump is in Europe for the NATO summit in June and is due in Scotland to open a new golf course soon too.
“It is the second time it has happened to one person. The reason is we have two separate terms, and it’s an honour to be a friend of King Charles and the family, William,” the president said.
“I don’t know how it can be bigger than the last one. The last one was incredible, but they say the next one will be even more important.”
His last state visit in 2019, at the invitation of the late Queen, drew significant protests epitomised by the giant blow-up “Baby Trump” which floated over Parliament Square.
The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters
Britain’s trump card
September is a little earlier than had been expected for the visit. It may be an advantage for it to happen sooner rather than later, given the profoundly consequential and controversial nature of the first few months of his second term.
The decision by the British government to play its “state visit trump card” up front back in February drew some criticism.
And since February, Mr Trump’s position on numerous issues has been increasingly at odds with all of America’s allies.
On Ukraine, he has seemingly aligned himself closely with Vladimir Putin. His tariffs have caused a global economic shock. And on issues like Greenland and Canada, a member of the Commonwealth, he has generated significant diplomatic shock.
A risk worth taking
Mr Trump is as divisive among the British public as he is in America. Sir Keir is already walking a political tightrope by choosing the softly softly approach with the White House.
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The UK government chose not to retaliate against Mr Trump’s tariffs, unlike some allies. Sir Keir and his cabinet have been at pains not to be seen to criticise the president in any way as they seek to influence him on Ukraine and seek an elusive economic deal on tariffs.
On that tariff deal, despite some positive language from the US side and offers on the table, there has yet to be a breakthrough. A continuing challenge is engaging with the president for decisions and agreements only he, not his cabinet, will make.
British officials acknowledge the risk the state visit poses. In this presidency, anything could happen between now and September.
But they argue British soft power and Mr Trump’s fondness for the Royal Family and pomp – or a “fest” as he calls it – amount to vital diplomatic clout.
For a special relationship under strain, a special state visit is the tonic.
Politics
Laws may need to be bolstered to crack down on exploitation of child ‘influencers’, senior MP suggests
Laws may need to be strengthened to crack down on the exploitation of child “influencers”, a senior Labour MP has warned.
Chi Onwurah, chair of the science, technology and innovation committee, said parts of the Online Safety Act – passed in October 2023 – may already be “obsolete or inadequate”.
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Experts have raised concerns that there is a lack of provision in industry laws for children who earn money through brand collaborations on social media when compared to child actors and models.
This has led to some children advertising in their underwear on social media, one expert has claimed.
Those working in more traditional entertainment fields are safeguarded by performance laws, which strictly govern the hours a minor can work, the money they earn and who they are accompanied by.
The Child Influencer Project, which has curated the world’s first industry guidelines for the group, has warned of a “large gap in UK law” which is not sufficiently filled by new online safety legislation.
Official portrait of Chi Onwurah.
Pic: UK Parlimeant
The group’s research found that child influencers could be exposed to as many as 20 different risks of harm, including to dignity, identity, family life, education, and their health and safety.
Ms Onwurah told Sky News there needs to be a “much clearer understanding of the nature of child influencers ‘work’ and the legal and regulatory framework around it”.
She said: “The safety and welfare of children are at the heart of the Online Safety Act and rightly so.
“However, as we know in a number of areas the act may already be obsolete or inadequate due to the lack of foresight and rigour of the last government.”
Victoria Collins, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for science, innovation and technology, agreed that regulations “need to keep pace with the times”, with child influencers on social media “protected in the same way” as child actors or models.
“Liberal Democrats would welcome steps to strengthen the Online Safety Act on this front,” she added.
‘Something has to be done’
MPs warned in 2022 that the government should “urgently address the gap in UK child labour and performance regulation that is leaving child influencers without protection”.
They asked for new laws on working hours and conditions, a mandate for the protection of the child’s earnings, a right to erasure and to bring child labour arrangements under the oversight of local authorities.
However, Dr Francis Rees, the principal investigator for the Child Influencer Project, told Sky News that even after the implementation of the Online Safety Act, “there’s still a lot wanting”.
“Something has to be done to make brands more aware of their own duty of care towards kids in this arena,” she said.
Dr Rees added that achieving performances from children on social media “can involve extremely coercive and disruptive practices”.
“We simply have to do more to protect these children who have very little say or understanding of what is really happening. Most are left without a voice and without a choice.”
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The researcher pointed to one particular instance, in which children were advertising an underwear brand on social media.
She said: “The kids in the company’s own marketing material or their own media campaigns are either pulling up the band of the underwear underneath their clothing, or they’re holding the underwear up while they’re fully clothed.
“But whenever you look at any of the sponsored content produced by families with children – mum, dad, and child are in their underwear.”
Dr Rees said it is “night and day” in terms of how companies are behaving when they have responsibility for the material, versus “the lack of responsibility once they hand it over to parents with kids”.
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